


Braided Together

by BookDragon13



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Domestic Fluff, F/M, Fluff, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-06
Updated: 2018-10-06
Packaged: 2019-07-27 07:55:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 988
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16214762
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BookDragon13/pseuds/BookDragon13
Summary: What starts as a simple gesture turns into friendship, and maybe something more.





	Braided Together

**Author's Note:**

> This was for @writingcroissant’s 2k writing challenge and the prompt I chose was “Stop fussing. I’m just braiding your hair” with Bucky. This works best if the reader has braid-able hair.

“Ugh, my hair is getting so annoying!” You threw the hair tie on the ground in frustration. You and Bucky were on a quinjet coming back from a mission, and you’d been trying to fix your ponytail, with no luck.

“Woah, what’d the hair tie ever do to you?” Bucky asked, grinning.

You sighed. “It’s not the hair tie, Bucky. It’s my hair,” you explain. “It never stays in a ponytail for long, and it’s way too tiring to braid it. It’s just super frustrating to have my hair in my face during a mission, but there’s not much I can do.”

Bucky hummed and nodded. “True, but I may be able to help. Grab the hair tie and come here.”

All you could do was cock your head in confusion. “Why?”

“Just stop fussing and get over here. Sit on the ground between my legs.” It wasn’t really a command, but you followed it anyway. Once you were sitting down, Bucky started combing his fingers through your hair. It startled you how gentle he was. You never expected the ex-Winter Soldier to have such a delicate touch.

“So what are you going to do, Bucky?” You asked.

“I’m just braiding your hair. I remember braiding my sister’s hair before the war, and I’ve kept up the practice with Nat and Wanda.”

That explained why Bucky was so gentle. You could feel his fingers start doing a French braid that was tight enough to not come loose easily, but not so tight that it hurt. Pretty soon he was done and asked for the hair tie, which you handed over.

“You’re good at this, Buck,” you complimented as you felt the braid.

“Thanks.” Bucky grinned. “Comes with all the practice. Do you want me to braid your hair before the next mission?”

You smiled back at him. “Yeah, that would be great.”

Bucky braiding your hair quickly became a routine before each mission. It was cathartic for the both of you, and you got to learn more about Bucky in the process. As your friendship grew, little seedlings of a crush began to grow as well. But you didn’t act on or think much about those feelings until Steve mentioned something.

~~~~~

“You know, Y/N,” Steve said as you both were eating breakfast one day, “Bucky’s been a lot happier since you’ve become friends with him. He gets a pretty dopey smile whenever you’re around or mentioned.”

You raise your head to look at Steve. “Yeah?”

He nodded. “It looks to me that he’s started liking you as more than a friend. And just about everyone but Bucky has noticed the doe eyes you give him. You should ask him out.”

You almost choke when you hear Steve’s assessment. The little seedlings grew into a bush as what Steve told you sinks in. You cough for a little bit before asking, “If Bucky likes me, why doesn’t he ask me out?”

“He doesn’t want to ruin the relationship you already have. It scares him that you might not want to be around him if he confesses how he feels and makes things awkward for you.”

“Well, do you really think I should ask him out?” You ask. “I don’t want to make things awkward between us either.”

Steve sighed. “I haven’t seen Bucky this twitter-pated since the last time he had a crush back in the ‘30s. He likes you, he just doesn’t know what to do about it yet. If you make the first move, he’ll be happy to take the relationship further.” He pushed back from the table and put his dishes in the sink.

“Think about it, Y/N. He won’t say no.”

~~~~

Over the next few days, you did think about what Steve said. You also took notice of how Bucky acted around you. He did smile more while you were in the room, and he always stayed close enough to touch. There some other subtle things that you took into consideration, and you started planning on asking Bucky out. The opportunity presented itself rather quickly.

Bucky was in the kitchen one early morning when you came in to start making breakfast. You noticed his bleary eyes and disheveled hair as he drank some coffee slowly.

“You look like a zombie, Bucky. Did you not get much sleep last night?” You asked as you grabbed the pans and food you needed to make French toast.

Bucky shook his head. “I couldn’t sleep. Steve and I were talking yesterday about something and I wasn’t able to stop thinking about it the whole night. Made me come to a realization.”

“Yeah? May I ask what about?” As you busied yourself with breakfast preparation, you noticed that Bucky was just looking at his coffee mug, rather than drinking out of it. He played his finger around the rim.

After a moment, Bucky answered your question. “Steve told me that you like me. As maybe more than just a friend. Got me to recognize that maybe I like you as more than a friend.”

When you realized what Bucky said, you stopped moving as you felt heat wash over you. Mainly it surprised you that Bucky addressed the growing feelings between the two of you first. You turned around to fully look at Bucky.

“He’s not wrong, you know,” you remarked. Bucky looked up at you, his eyes full of wonder. “I had a similar conversation with Steve a few days ago, and he told me to ask you out, and that you wouldn’t say no.”

Bucky laughed. “Of course Steve would meddle. But he’s not wrong about that either. If you ask me on a date, I won’t say no.”

You grinned. “Well, Buck, do you want to grab some pizza tonight, maybe watch a movie in the theater room?”

“It’s a date,” Bucky agreed with a smile.

To think this started with Bucky braiding your hair.


End file.
